County to explore operator-funded lifeguards // PHOTO GALLERY

Published: Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at 02:04 PM.

PANAMA CITY— The operators of two major beach access points may be footing the bill for lifeguards.

The Bay County Commission voted to ask the companies that manage Rick Seltzer Park and the M.B. Miller County Pier to pay for lifeguards as part of their contracts.

Commissioner Mike Thomas brought the motion at the County Commission’s Tuesday meeting. He argued that including the cost of lifeguards in the contracts would prevent taxpayer dollars from going toward lifeguards.

“If we can get it done without tax money, that's still, I think, what we need to do,” Thomas said.

Right now, the county park does not have an operator, but there are several companies who want the contract, Thomas said. The county should go out for proposals and require the operators to provide lifeguards, he said.

The county pier already has an operator, which has said it would be willing to provide lifeguards, Thomas said.

Included in Thomas’ motion was a request to approach the operator and ask for an adjustment to the contract or a new contract providing lifeguards at the pier. The current contract ends January of 2014 with a renewal option through January, 2015.

PANAMA CITY— The operators of two major beach access points may be footing the bill for lifeguards.

The Bay County Commission voted to ask the companies that manage Rick Seltzer Park and the M.B. Miller County Pier to pay for lifeguards as part of their contracts.

Commissioner Mike Thomas brought the motion at the County Commission’s Tuesday meeting. He argued that including the cost of lifeguards in the contracts would prevent taxpayer dollars from going toward lifeguards.

“If we can get it done without tax money, that's still, I think, what we need to do,” Thomas said.

Right now, the county park does not have an operator, but there are several companies who want the contract, Thomas said. The county should go out for proposals and require the operators to provide lifeguards, he said.

The county pier already has an operator, which has said it would be willing to provide lifeguards, Thomas said.

Included in Thomas’ motion was a request to approach the operator and ask for an adjustment to the contract or a new contract providing lifeguards at the pier. The current contract ends January of 2014 with a renewal option through January, 2015.

Commissioner Guy Tunnell stood in strong opposition to Thomas’ proposal, similar to the last meeting where the two commissioners squared off. Tunnell worried about “continuity of service” issues. Those could result from a change in operators as well as county lifeguards not being on the same page as Panama City Beach lifeguards.

The communication would be “a lot better” if the county used Panama City Beach’s program, Tunnell said.

“I just think from a management standpoint it would be easier to oversee that as well — that if we have several vendors involved, my concern would be maybe the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing,” he said.

Tunnell eventually relented and voted for Thomas’ motion. That was partly because the commission’s action did not approve any contract, but only explores the option of the operators paying for lifeguards.

County staff will bring their findings back, Tunnell said, in an interview after the meeting.

If operator-funded lifeguards aren’t doable, the commission can pursue funding them with Bay County Tourist Development Council (TDC) dollars, Tunnell said.

In the interview, Tunnell wouldn’t say whether he’d support moving forward with operator-funded lifeguards, only he’d have “to see how that works out.”

Thomas, who is the only commissioner on the TDC board, is adamantly opposed to spending TDC money on lifeguards and has fought Tunnell on that point repeatedly in meetings.

Panama City Beach falls in Thomas’ district, and he said his plan gives the county a chance to fund lifeguards without “messing with any tax money.”

In the meeting, Chairman George Gainer also asked the county attorney to research possible increases in liability and insurance costs resulting from lifeguards at the park and pier.

TDC roadblock

Tunnell’s push for TDC dollars also is up against a roadblock. Okaloosa County has been using TDC dollars to pay for lifeguards, but a state audit of the county said it could not spend those dollars on lifeguards and should repay the more than $2 million it’s already spent.

Okaloosa County has not requested an attorney general’s opinion on the audit.

All this uncertainty makes the Bay County Commission uncomfortable with using TDC dollars to fund lifeguards.

Thomas thinks it’s foolish to look at TDC money without exploring his plan first, which he said will not spend taxpayer dollars. He failed to mention, though, that the county may have to cut the operators a better deal on their contracts if they are required to provide lifeguards. Such contracts could cost the county money.

“It’s not even that much money, in the grand scheme of things,” Thomas said of the cost of lifeguards.

County staff has estimated the cost would be $130,000 annually to provide lifeguards at the county park and pier from April to September.

Operator-funded lifeguards also were sold as expediting the process and ensuring lifeguards are on the beach next year.

There aren’t many surf-certified lifeguard classes in the area, Thomas said, noting that’s the type of lifeguards the commission wants, rather than pool-certified ones.